Automatic weft-replenishing loom.



M. L. STONE. AUTOMATIC WBFT REPLENIBHING LOOM. APPLIOATION FILED APB.1.1904.

921,909. Patented May 18, 1909.

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M. L. STONE. AUTOMATIC WEPT REPLENISHING LOOM. APPLIUATXON FILED APB-1.190%

921 ,909. Patented May 18, 1909.

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M. L. STONE.

AUTOMATIG WEPT REPLENISHING LOOM.

APPLIOATIOK FILED APR.1. 1904.

Patented May 18, 1909.

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M. L. STUNE.

AUTOMATIC WEFT REPLENISHING LOOM.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 1, 1904.

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AUTOMATIC WEIT BEPLBNISHING LOOK.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APB. 1.1904.

Patented May 18, 1909.

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AUTOMATIC WBFT EEPLENISHING LOOM.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APB.1.1904.

Patented May 18, 1909.

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AUTOMATIC WEFT RBPLBNISHING LOOK.

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921 ,909. Patented May 18, 1909.

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Mum/1; .Stane M. L. STONE. AUTOMATIC WBFT REPLBNISHING LOOM.

APPLIOATIOH FILED APE. 1.1904.

921 ,909, Patented May 18. 1909.

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M. L. STONE. AUTOMATIO WEFT BEPLBNIBHING LOOK.

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MELVIN L. STQNE, 01 LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY, OF

HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A UORPORATION OF MAINE.

AUTOMATIC WEFT-RE PLENIBHING LOOM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1 MELVIN L. STONE, of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new 2 and useful Improvements in Automatic W'eftloom, and being placed and arranged in the loom without any attention on the part of the weaver. Consequently, all that the weaver has to do in connection with the warp threads is to mend an occasional breakage. In the case of the weft however, the conditions are substantially different, so much so that in the case of lain weaving the main duties of the weaver rave been in con nection with the supply of the weft. The Weft has been prepared outside of .the weave room onl to t 1e extent of winding it upon suitable obbins, s indles or other carriers, and the entire wor of placing the weft carriers in place to be used in the loom has fallen 11 )on the weaver. The invention of the Well-known Northrop loom (see U. S. Patents No. 454,810, June 23, 1891, and No. 529,940, Nov. 27, 1894) has largely dimin ished the duties of the weaver and enabled a I sin le weaver to look after a much larger D number of looms, since 1n the Northrop loom the weft or filling is automaticall supplied to the running shuttle, thus avoi in cessa tion of the production of the loom an saving the weaver from the duties of removing the spent shuttle from. the loom, replacing the spent weft-carrier in the shuttle with a fresl'i one, threadin the shuttle, inserting the shuttle in the Toom again, andv restartin the loom. Even in the case, however, the Northrop loom there is still left a lar e amount of work to bedone to the loom in e weave room by an attendant in connection with the filling. The bobbins or other weftcarriers are brou ht in loose condition (ordinarily in a box) to the loom and have to be transferred by hand one by one into the bat tery hopper or magazine therefor, with which the loom is equipped. In addition to putting the bobbins or other carriers into the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 1, 1904.

Patented May 18, 1909.

Serial No. 201,069.

battery it is necessary for the weaver to secure the weft ends to the weft stud or holder with which th battery is equipped, and in so doing care should be exercised to appropriately locate each thread as it extends from its bobbin to the weft stud or holder. attention to these matters requires the larger portion of the woavcrs time. In addition, the battery or magazine holds only a limited number of bobbins or other weft-carriers and in case all have been used before the weaver has an opportunity to replenish the battery the loom stops and ceases its production until it has been visited by the weaver, replenished with weft-carriers and again started. This cessation of production may continue for quite a period of time owing to the weaver being engaged, for example, in mending warp threads at another loom and. the stoppa e of one of the looms may not be immediate y noticed. The necessity of looking after the filling supplied to the batteries is always upon the mind of the weave! and, consequent interferes to an a preciable extent with the performance of 0t 1e! neces sarry duties.

he primary object of the present invention is to substantlally take away the entire duty of the weaver with respect to the filling or weft and to have what is necessary in reference thereto done outside of the weave room, thus utting the management of the Weft upon to same footing as that of the warp, and enabli a weaver to run a much. lar er number of ooms. In achieving this object three principles have been introduced. In the first place, a readily detachable battery or magazine is employed which can be readily attached to and removed from the loom. This detachable magazine is of large capacity, capable of holding any desired number of weft-carriers, say one hundred or more, and readily capable of holding suliicient weft-carriers to run the loom for the entire day. This detachable magazine may be filled with weft-carriers outside of the weave room or away from the looms by emplo *ems whose sole dut may be to do so. Tiese filled detachab e magazines are preferably placed upon the looms before the weave room starts up for the day, and after the day is over all of the magazines are desirably removed from all of the looms irrespective of whether they are exhausted or not so that the looms are ready to receive replenished The magazines, then or the following morning, which have been refilled during the preceding day. Since the capacity of each magazine is suilicient for the running of the loom for the entire day, the weaver never has to consider the condition of the magazine, and the same should, under ordinary circumstances, never become exhausted. Of course, it is not essential that the detachable magazine should be used in this particular way, since it is feasible to wait until each magazine is entirely exhausted, in which event the loom will sto automaticall and the magazine can be rep aced with a fil ed one at any time that the organization and discipline of the mill render it expedient. In any event, however, the magazine is detachable from the loom, is filled with weft-carriers away from the looms or outside of the weave room, and holds a much larger supply than the batteries now employed on t e Northrop loom. In the second ace, means are employed for automatical feeding the weft-carriers from the detachable. magazine when secured to the loom to the lay, whenever the. weft in the running shuttle breaks or is exhausted, or whenever the weft approaches exhaustion, in case the weft detectin mechanism of the loom is of the kind whic indicates a definite depletion, or the approachinlg exhaustion, of the fillin as in the case of t e mechanism of the U. patent of George 0. Draper, No. 527,014, Oct. 2 1894. The weft-carriers can be automatically fed through a fixed chute.

for a short distance and can then be transferred directly to the shuttle when a change of weft is called; or, the feedi from the detachable battery to the loom s utt-les can be through the intermediary of the rotary battery already am loyed on the Northrop loom, such as is s own in U. S. Patents N 0. 529,940, Nov. 27, 1894, and No. 563,611, Jul 7 1896. The feeding mechanism of the em odiment of the invention hereinafter illustrated and described in detail is of the latter t e, that is to say, the weft-carriers are fe from the detachable magazine through a guide chute to the transferrer which transfers them to the lay; while the lat: ter organization is shown as a modification. In the third lace, special means are employed for taking care of the weft ends. In the Northrop loom it has been necessary not only to place the weft-carriers one by one by hand into the battery on the loom, but it has also been necessar to fasten the loose weft endssby hand tot Weft stud or holder on the battery. This has been necessary in order that-the shuttle may be threaded automaticelly when replenished with a fresh weftcarrier. In order that the weaver may be saved from this duty of securing the weftends, the weft-carriers are especially constructed. Each weftrcarrier has a readily removable thread holder to which the weftend is secured before the weft-carriers are placed in the magazine. These readily de tachable individual thread holders remain attached to the weft-carriers during their occupancy ofthe magazine. When, however, a weft-carrier is removed from the detachable magazine and is about to be transferred either directly to the shuttle or to the intermediate rotary battery, the detachable weft-end holder is automatically removed from its weft-carrier and is transferred to a position where it holds the weft-end in proper position to insure the automatic threading of the shuttle when the corresponding weft-carrier is inserted into the shuttle. In connec tion with these main principles, the embodiment of the invention in a loom involves many detailswhich are of importance and which will be hereinafter called attention to in connection with the detailed description of one embodiment of the invention.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, one embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fi ure 1 is a front elevation of a mechanism s owing the same attached to a loom, the upper portion of the detachable magazine being broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssection in the plane indicated by the line 2-2 in Fi 1, looking in thedirection of the arrow 1. 'g. 3 is a plan view of the bobbin feeding mechanism with the detachable battery removed. Fi 4 is a vertical section in the plane indicate by the line 4-4 in Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrow 4. Fig. 5is a vertical cross-section also taken in the lane indicated by the line 22 of Fig. 1, ct looking in the direction of the arrows 5. Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fi 5. Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section in the plane indicated by the line 44 of Fi 1, looking in the direction of the arrow 7. T ig. 8 is a vertical lon itudinal section taken in the lane indicate by the line 88 in F1 3. ig. 9 1s a plan view of the detachab e ma azlne, with its bottom slide partly bro ran away. ig. 10 is a vertical cross-section of the magazine in the plane indicated by the line 10--1O in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is an enlar ed front,view of the mechanism for trans erring the removable weft-end holders from the weft-carriers to the. device which retains them until after the transfer of their weftcarriers to the shuttle has been completed. Fig. 12 is a section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 12-12 of Fi' 11.

In describing the embodiment o the invention shown inthe drawings, reference will be made specifically to bobbins because they are the particular kind of weftcarrier which is illustrated, but it will be understood that an other form of weft-carrier can be employe It will also be assumed that the loom is equipped with a weft-fork which detects the absence of filling or Weft so that the automatic transfer of a fresh bobbin to the shuttle "takes place when the running weft breaks or is exhausted, but it will be on derstood that the invention is applicable to any automatic transfer irrespective of the war in which it is initiated.

he improved weft-carrier will be first described, reference being made to Fig. 9 of the drawings. A is a bobbin of well-known construction carrying a su ply of filling or weft wound thereon. The obbin, as illustrated, is of the construction shown in the U. S. patcut to Northro No. 454,807, June 23, 1891, being equippe at its base with suitable rovisions a. to enable it to be grasped and ield by bobbin-holdingjaws in the shuttle, such as are disclosed in said vNorthrop patent. The bobbin at its tip end is equipped with a readily detachable weft-end holder B. This holder is provided with a shank 25 which fits within a central longitudinal aperture (not shown) in the tip end of the bobbin. The headof the holder B is provided with suitable thread-holding grooves, as shown, to hold and retain the end of the weft thread. This weft-carrier is more fully set forth in Letters Patent of the United States No. 860,703, July 23, 1907. When thema 'azine is to be filled with bobbins one of these weft-end holders is put in lace on each of the bobbins, and the end of t is thread is ut into one of the grooves in the holder and 1s gri ped sufficiently to maintain it securely in p ace. The bob-bins thus equi ped are then placed in the magazine (to be lihreinafter described) and, during the filling of the magazine, its transfer to the loom and the greater portion of the time which the bobbins occupy while on the loom, these detachable weft-end holders are maintained in place without any possibility of coming off from the bobbins accidentally or otherwise, and without any possible opportunity for the thread to become detached from its weft-end holder. As will hereinafter be set forth, at the appropriate time in the operation of the loom, the weft-end holder is automatically removed from the bobbin While still holding on to the end of the thread, so that the bobbin freed of the weftend holder is then ready to be inserted into the running shuttle (just as in the case of the Northro loom), while the removed weftend hol= er retains its hold upon the thread so that the shuttle is automatically threaded in the same we as when the thread is held in the Northrop 0on1. b the permanent Weftend holder with whic the usual rotary bat: tery is equipped.

The mechanism whereby the weft-end holders are automatically removed from the bobbins at the proper stage in the operation will be described after the magazine and its relation to the loom have been explained.

In the Northrop loom there is employed a startin shaft which is rocked in order to set in motion the filling or weft changing mechanism whenever there -is a necessity for the replenishment of filling or w eftin the running shuttle due either to the exhaustion, breakage, or approaching exhaustion of the weft in use. T ie effect of the movement of this starting shaft is to bring a transferrer into action, which transfers a fresh weft-carrier from the hopper battery or magazine into the shuttle on the lay, at the same time eiecting the spent weft-carrier from the shuttle. The organization and operation of this portion of the mechanism is nowsowell-known as to require no specific illustration and description, and is fully set forth in the Northrop patents already mentioned. It is with such mechanism that the present improvements are preferably employed and in the accompanying drawings only the transferrer C and dog X of this mechanism are shown. Concerning this transferrer C it is sufficient to say that it is held normally uplifted (as shown in Fig. 4) by a spring 9 (Fig. 1), and that it is moved downwardly (as shown in Fig. 12) to transfer a Weft-carrier from the magazine in the shuttle and to eject the spent weft-carrier, and after the transfer has been made it is restored to its normal elevated position by said spring.

The usual rotary battery R of the Northrop loom is shown in Figs. 2 and -3. It is constructed and operated in the usual manner, except in particulars hereinafter specifically described.

The improved detachable magazine D is removably secured to the batterystand l above the batter As hereinafter set forth, the loom has a med guide-chute K for the weft-carriers after the same have left the magazine D. This guide-chute is composed of two parts, the inner one of which is formed by a bracket F, integral with the batter stand E, as shown inFigs. 1, 3 and 4, W111 e the outer part is a art of a frame G, rigidly secured to the fixed stud H, u on which the transferrer swings; this frame also furnishing an outer bearing for the rotary battery it, all as shown in Figs. 1, 7 and 11. The front end of the detachable magazine rests upon the two parts of the fixed guide-chute, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 8, while the body of the magazine rests upon a bracket I, extend- '1 the necks 25 of the weft-end holders.

. passage therebeneath of a weft-carrier.

same time permit the ready and easy attachment and detachment of the magazine from the loom.

The magazine has side walls It and a pernianent inclined bottom 28 (Figs. 9 and 10), upon which rest the stacks or groups of wel'tcarriers with which the magazine is supplied. The magazine has front and rear plates 29 and 30, and cross-partitions Z, which divide it vertically into a plurality of channels,

" magazine is in place, as shown in Figs. 4 and 10. When the slide is thus drawn out, the front stack or group of weft-carriers in the magazine is in re ister with the short fixed guide-chute K wiich extends downwardly to a position op osite'the front of the rotary battery R, as 0 early shown in Figs. 3, 4, 8, 11 and 12. When the slide is withdrawn the front stack of weft-carriers drops down, filling the said guide-chute K, the bottom weftcarrier then resting upon fixed supports 34 (Fig; 8). The lowermost weft-carrier is retained in this position by yielding springfingers 1 (Figs. 4 and 8) similar in construc tion and operation to the finger for supporting the tip of the bobbin set forth in U. S. patent of Stirnpson, No. 664,790, Dec. 25, 1900, and such as is shown at in Fig. 4 of the present drawings. In t iis instance, however, the spring-fingers 9 stand vertically and are interposed at their free end between the lowermost weft-carrier and the adjacent portion of the rotary battery. The front or forward displacement of this lowermost weft-carrier is prevented by the coacting portions of a pusher S (Fig. 4), the oflice of which is to automatically transfer at the appropriate time the lowermost weft-carrier from the guide-chute into the rotary battery.

I This pusher is eri uipped with appropriate parts 35 and 36 vi iicli act respectively upon the head andtipof the weftcarrier during the transfer into the battery, and they correspond in construction with corres ending arts of the usual transferrer of the orthrop lbom. This pusher is secured to the transferrer Use as to operate in. unison therewith.

When the transferrer G acts to transfer ,a weft-carrier from the battery into the lay, the pusher simultaneously acts to transfer a Weft-carrier into the battery, so that the battery is kept supplied with a uniform number of weft-carriers so long as the magazine and guide-chute furnish weft-carriers. The pusher is provided with a suitable retainer L which passes under the front stack of shuttles during the transferring movement and the return therefrom so as to uphold the front stack of weft-carriers during this period.

When the front stack of Weft-carriers in the detachable magazine has been exhausted through successive transfers of the weftcarriers composing the same into the rotary battery, the second stack of weft-carriers comes into play, dropping down by gravity as last as needed. The weft-carriers of this second stack roll down (as occasion requires) the inclined fixed bottom 28 to the open bottom-throat of the magazine, and thence into the fixed guide-chute, and during this movement they pass underneath the first partition. This action continues until this stack is exhausted, and then the third stack comes into action, and so on, until all of the stacks have been exhausted. It is obvious that the magazine can. be made of a height to accommodate any desired number of weftcarriers, and it is desirable that the ca acity of the magazine should at least be sui' cient to keep the loom running for an entire day. The drawings show the top of the magazine broken off to indicate that it may be of any desired height.

To facilitate the proper descent by gravity of the wcft-carriers of the several stacks without interfering with each other, appropriate means, such as automatic gates 37 at the bottom of each artition Z, are employed. These gates normal y occupy their depending vertical positions shown in Fig. 4, where they arevent the premature rolling down of the 'ottom weft-carriers of each stack which is not in communication for the time being s ith the guide-chute. Each of these gates is carried upon a. horizontal shaft 38 journaled beneath the corresponding partition Z, and it extends out through the inner wall of the magazine where it has a rejecting arm 39. This arm is normally held in a vertical posi tion by means of a swinging latch 40, which is also exterior to the rear naltof the magazinc and is mounted u on a horizontal shaft 41 extending paralle with the shaft 38. This latch is lifted by means of a lifting 5 ring 42, but the latch is held normally ovrn against the tension of said spring b means of the u oft-carriers in the correspon ing channel which bear against depending arms 43 (see Figs. 8 and 9). As long as there are weft-carriers in the correspondln channel extending above the plane of the ottom of the corresponding partition I said carriers are in contact with said arms 43 and by their weight overcome the tension of the spring 42, and thereby'rnaintain the latch 40 down,

holding the next succeeding gate 37 locked in its vertical weft-carrier-restraining posi tion, as clearly SllO'uIl in Fig. 10. When, however, the weft-carriers in an advance channel fall below the lower ends of the arms 43 then the spring 42 throws the latch 40 up, thereby unlocking the gate 37 which has previously restrained the weft-carriers in the channel next in the rear, thus bringing said weft-carriers into coo erative relation \iith the stationary chute Hence, at the pro or time and in the proper succession, the di erent stacks or groups of weft-carriers in the diflerent channels of the magazine are brought into action. When the magazine is again filled with weft-carriers these latches and gates are re-set by hand.

As each weft-carrier at the bottom of the stationary guide-chu te K is transferred into the rotary battery R, and as the lowermost weft-carrier in said battery is transferred into the running shuttle (which operation is indicated in Fig. 12) the rotary battery is immediately thereafter rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 44 in Fi s. 4 and 12, in the customary manner of the orthrop loom and by the customary mechanism for this pur ose with which said loom is equipped. his leaves the spring-finger q free to return from its displaced position, shown in Fig. 12, to its normal position, shown in Fig. 4, where it holds the next descended weft-carrier in proper position. In this embodiment of the invention a mechanism for ejectin and displacing the Weft-end holders from the weft-carriers is emplo ed. A specific mechanism for this purpose is i lustrated in the drawings. The rota battery is not provided with the usual we -holding wheel rotating with the battery, as in the usual construction of the Northrop loom, but instead it'cooperates with a receivev and conve or for the ejected and dis laced weft-end ho ders B. lhis receiver an conveyor comrises a stationary casing T which is circular in form and concentric with the axis of the rotary battery. The rotating shaft 45 of the rotary battery extends outwardly beyond its outer end (as clearly shown in Fi s. 1 and 3) and extends into and is journale in. said sta tionary casing T. Fast to and rotatin with this shaft 45 is a rotary plate U (see *igs. 5 and 6) which carries a horizontal circular or drum-like flange 46 from which extend radially a. series of blades 47 corresponding in number and position with the several weft carrier retainers (of the usual kind) viith which the rotary battery is equipped. There is thus formed within the casin a series of pockets V corresponding in num or with the number'of weft-carriers which the rotary batter (if entirely filled) would be capable of hol 'n It is, therefore, obvious thatif a weft-end older were ejected into one of these pockets, it would be carried around in con- 'sonance with the movement of the battery as the shaft 45 and plate U rotate, thus maintaining a definite relation throughout the rotation of the battery between the weftcarrier inserted into the battery and the corresionding weft-end holder which had been is laced therefrom. ()n reference to Figs. 5 an 6, it will be noted that a circular gap 48 is left between the rotary plate U and the stationary casing T which permits the free passage of the thread extending from the weft-carrier in the rotatin battery to its corresponding. weft-end hol er located in the rotating pocket. As the result of this construction and arrangement, the weft-end holder is brou ht to the proper position when its correspon ing weft-carrier is to betransferred'from the rotary battery into therunning shuttle, so that the running shuttle will be automatically threaded (in the usual manner) when said corresponding weft-carrier is inserted into the shuttle. After the automatic threading has been thus accomplished, the corresponding weft-end holder, which has then accomplished its function, is (owing to the continued rotation of its pocket) discharged through an opening 49 (see Fig. 1) near the bottom of the stationary casing.

I't onl remains to be explained how each weft-end holder B is in turn displaced from its weft-carrier and ejected into its roper pocket of the rotary Weft-end hol or re ceiver. This is accomplished by a displacer N. As shown in Fi s. 1 and 8, this displacer N is mounted to s ide' horizontally upon a fixed horizontal rod 50, and it performs its outward or ejecting stroke under the action of a propelling sprmg P. 1 shows the displacer after it as performer its propelling oilice, andthis is it's normal position. Fig. 11 shows it in its inward position where it is temporarily held by a pivoted spring-latch 12, shown best in Fig. 3. When the displacer. thus occu ies its inner position with ano en-mouthe slot m, a lip 51, is within the wad of the then lowermost weft-end holder B, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8. When in this position the neck 25 of the holder B occuples the slot m. By releasing this s ring latch 12 from the displacer the propelling spring P moves the disp' acer quickly outwardly, carrying with it the weftend holder B, .an forcib y ejecting it throu h a fixed tube W which directs it to one of t e pockets V in the rotary weft-end holder receiver' and conveyer. This tube W has an o en-thread slot 52 at the rear, as best s o'wn in Fig. 8, which permits the free passage of the thread. therefrom as the rotary batte rotates, As the weft-end holder is shot t rough this tube W the threadreels ofl' from the weft carrier with it so thatthe thread remains intact. The displacer is thus released and is again thrust inwardly to ut its propelling spring again under tension iiy appropriate automatic mechanism which 0 crates with the transferring mechanism. e displacer is immediately acted upon to be pushed inward so as to put its propelling sprin under tension by means of a lever 53 (see igs. 1 and 11), which is pivoted at 54 to a stationary part of the loom. The outer and lower end of this lever. is pivotally connected to an intermediate lever 55 (best shown in Figs. 11 and '12), which is pivoted at 56 to a stationary part of the loom. The lower end of this lever 55 has ivoted to it a slotted link 57 and through this slot extends a rod 58 which is secured rigidly to the usual lower arm 59 of the transferrer C. When the transferrer is swun downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 12 for the purpose of inserting a fresh weft-carrier into the running shuttle, it carries the rod 58 forwardly with it, thus swinging the intermediate levers 55 and 53 on their pivots and thereby the displacer is moved inwardly until it is automatically locked by the spring-latch 12 (see Figs. 3 and 11), this also putting the ro elling spring P under tension. The isp acer is thus brought into position so that when the stack of weft-carriers falls b gravity, the head of the weft-end holder will .be outside of the lip 51 of the displacer,with its neckin the slot m.

Immediately after the stackof weft-carriers has descended, the dis lacer is trip ed so as to be shot outwardly By its ropel ing spring, whereby the weft-end hol er of the t en lowest weft-carrier is displaced and ejected into the corresponding pocket of the rotary receptacle for the weft-end holder. This tripping of the displacer is effected through intervening instrumentalities when the transferrer C is restored to its normal position. As shown, the lower arm 59 of the transferrer has pivoted to it the usual dog X which is commonl em loyed in the Northrop loom and whic. is lustrated, for example, in the Stim son patent N 0. 664,790, Dec. 25, 1900. en the 'transferrer resumes its normal elevated position a stud 60 on said dog comes in contact with the lower end of alever 61 which is pivoted at 62 to -a stationary art of the loom (see Figs. 1, 2 and 4). The upper end of this lever cooperates with a crank arm 63 of a horizontal rock-shaft 64, suitably journaled to a fixed part of the loom (see Fig. 1) and the outer end of this rock-shaft has a dependin crank arm 65 which cooperates with the tai end of the spring-latch 12. As a consequence, when the 0g X isreturned to its normal po sition, the lever 61 and the rock-shaft 64 are appropriate! .moved to swin the latch 12 and to there y release the disp acer.

The entire operation of this embodiment of the invention is as follows:

The weftcarriers are supplied with weft-end hold-'-.

ers and the ends of the threads ..e se cured at any suitable place and at any convenient time by an unskilled attendant The detached magazine is then filled with the weft-carriers with their attached weft-end holders, during which time the bottom slide 33 is closed. The magazine is or may be of sufficient capacity to hold suilicient weftcarriers to run the loom for an entire day. The filled .magazine is then taken to the loom and is put in place and the slide 33 is opened, so that the front stack or group of w tt-carriers in the magazine is then in register with the fixed chute K and the weftcarriers drop down by gravity until the stack is supported by the fixed supports 34. If this is the initial starting of the loom the weft-end holder of the lowermost Weft-carrier is removed by hand and placed in the corresponding pocket of the rotary receiver and conveyer. Also, if this is the first starting of the loom the rotary battery R is filled with weft-carriers by hand and the weftholders therefor are either placed in proper pockets in the rotary receptacle or the weft ends may be simply attached to the shaft 45 in the manner common to the Northrop loom. These hand operations will not be necessary after the loom has been once set in operation. When the weftin the running shuttle requires replenishment the starting mechanism with which the loom is equi ipbd acts automatically in the manner usua to the Northrop loom, and thereupon the transferrer operates to transfer the lowermost weft-carrier in the rotary battery into the running shuttle. Simultaneously, the pusher 8 acts to transfer the lowermost weft-carrier in the chute K into the rotary battery. This same movement of the transferrer sets the displacer N. The transferrer then rises, the front stack of weft-carriers dropsdown one place, the rotary battery is rotated forwardly one step, and the displacer is released, thereby removing the weft-end holder of the lowermost weftcar 'rier in the fixed chute K and ejecting it into riers in the detachable magazine is substan tially exhausted, whereupon the retaining gate for the second stack of weft-carriers in said magazine is automaticall opened and the second stack is thus broug t into operative communicatiop with the fixed guide chute. When the second stack of weftcarriers in the magazine is exhausted, the third stack is brought into operation and so on until all of the weft-carriers in the ma'razine are exhausted. in case there should be no attention to the magazine when empty, the loom will continue running until not only is the magazine empty, but the rotary battery as Well, and thcreal ter the loom will be automatically stopped just as in the Northrop loom after the rotary battery thereof has been exhausted. \Vhcn the transfer of a wcft-carrier to the lay takes place its weft-end holder is detached but still retains its hold upon the thread. This detached holder aiiords a yielding resistance to the thread so that there is no sudden shock upon'the thread due to its transfer to the lay and its first flight through the shed such as is incident to the arrangement in the well-known Northrop loom wherein the thread is secured to a fixed thread-holder. This yielding character of the weft-end holder (which it possesses when the transfer takes place) is of importance since it eliminates a large portion of the'weft-breakage which has heretofore occurred at the time of transfer.

It is obvious that many changes may be made without departing from the spirit and principle of this invention. For example, although the greatest advantage of the present invention would be secured by making the magazine readily detachable, nevertheless it is obvious that some of the ad vantages of the present invention could be secured by permanently securing'the magazine to its supporting stand. 'While such permanence would necessitate the filling of the magazine at the loom, nevertheless this would have to be done only at remote intervals as compared with the attention to the battery of the Northrop loom, andcould be done out of hours so as not to interfere with the work of the weaver.

An embodiment of the general principles of m invention is set forth in the companion application of William S. Southwick, of the town of Hopedale, in the county of VVorces ter and State of Massachusetts filed April 1,

1904, Serial No. 201,054. I do not claim any of the specific features invented by this party, but his improvements serve to em ody the principles of m invention, serve to illustrate, the same, an are within the intended scope of my principal claims.

I have herein shown an im roved weftcarrier with my detachable we t-end holder ada )ted thereto. I do not makean claim to t is invention in this application ecause it constitutes the subject-matter of said patent No. 860,703.

I claim as my inventioni- 1. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a detachable magazine, a fixed guide-chute in communication with said magazine, a rotary battery, a pusher for transferring welt-carriers from said guide-chute into said rotary battery, and a transferrer for transferring weft-carriers from said rotary battery into the run ning shuttle.

.2. An "automatic weft-replenishing loom having, a rotary battery, an automatic transferrer cooperating therewith, a detachable magazine, and an automatic pusher for trans- .l'erring weit-carriers from the said magazine to the said rotary battery.

3. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a detachable magazine provided with means for holding a plurality of groups of weft-carriers, a trans ferrer, and means for automatically bringing into cooperation with the said transferrcr each of the said groups of weft-carriers in succession.

4. An automatic wel'treplenishing loom having, in combination, a readily detachable magazine provided with means for holding a plurality of weft-carriers, a transferrcr, and means for automatically bringing the weftcarriers oi' saidrnag'azine one by one into cooperation with said transferrer.

5. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a readily detachable ma azine adapted to-hold a plurality of groups 0 weft-carriers.

6. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a detachable magazine, an automatic transferre'r, and means for feeding the weft-carriers from the detachable magazine when secured to the loom to the transferrer.

7. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a readily detachable magazine adapted to hold a plurality of weft-carriers.

8. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a rotary battery independent of the lay for holding weft-carriers and from which said carriers are supplied to the loom, and automatic mechanism or sup plying weft-carriers to said rota-r battery.

9-. An automatic weft-replenis ling loom having, in combination, means for maintainin in place a weft-carrier having a detachab le weft end holder, a step-by-step rotating weft-end holder receiver having a plurality of wei'tend holder receiving pockets, and automatic means for removing the weft-end holder from the Weft carrier and transferring it into the appropriate pocket of saidrotary receiver.

10. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, meansfor sustainin a weft-carrier with a detachable weft-en .holder, automatic'means for displacing the 11. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in comhin ation, means for sustaining a weft carrier with a detachable weft-end holder, and means for automatically displacing said weltend holder.

12. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in comhin ation, means for maintain ing in place a weft-carrier with a detachable welt-end holder, and an automatic spring propelled displacer for removing said weftend holder from said weft-carrier.

13. A weft-carrier holding. magazine for an automatic weft-replenishing loom having a movable slide which retains weft-carriers in place therein when the magazine is remote from the loom.

14. The comhin ation of means for arrang ing a plurality of weft-carriers in order apart from the loom, means for fitting said arranged weft-carriers to the loom, and means for automatically bringing said weft-carriers successively into-weaving action.

15. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, means for holdin and feeding a pluralit Y of weft-carriers, an a separate yielding ho der for the end of the thread of each weft-carrier.

16. An automatic weft-replenishing loom havin a stationary magazine containing a plurality of stacks of spare weft-carriers, a single guide-chute communicating with said several stacks, and a movable gate which cuts off one stack from said guide-chute when another stack is in communication therewith.

17. An automatic weft-replenishin loom having a magazine containing a plura ity of stacks of spare weft-carriers, a common guide chute communicating "with all of said stacks, and movable gates between said stacks and said guide-chute.

18. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a magazine provided with a plurality of channels for spare weft-carriers, said weftcarriers moving in said channels by gravity, and separate retainin means at the lower end of each of said 0 annels to retain the weft-carriers.

19. In a weft replenishing loom, a magazine, having two or more compartments or guide-ways for weft carriers, and rigidly secured in a fixed position, and having a discharging end common to all the com artments, and means for yieldingly hold ng a weft carrier at said end.

20. In a weftreplenishing loom, a magazinc, having two or more compartments or guide-ways for weft carriers, and rigidly secured in a fixed position, and having a discharging end common to all the compartments, and means for yieldingly holding a weft carrier at said end, and in a position to be engaged by the transfer of the transferrer mechanism.

21. In a weft replenishing loom, a magezine having two or more compartments or guide-ways for weft carriers, and rigidly secured in a fixed osition, and having means for guiding the owest weft carrier in each compartment to the discharging end of the magazine, and means for yieldingly holding a weft carrier at said end.

22. In a weft replenishing loom, the combination with a stationary magazine having two or more compartments for weft carriers and a discharging end common to all the compartments, of mechanism for each compartment to retain the weft carriers in each compartment, and to release the lowest weft carrier in a compartment to allow its passage to thedischarging end of the magazine.

23. In a weft replenishing loom having a stationary magazine with a plurality of compartments' for weft carriers, separate means to retain the weft carriers in each of said compartments, and means to release the Low est weft carrier in each compartment.

24. In a weft replenishing loom, a ma azine having a plurality of compartments or weft carriers, and a chute from each compartment to a common position at the discharging end of the ma azine.

25. In a weft replenis ing loom, a stationary magazine having compartments for weft carriers, open from top to bottom, movable means for each compartment to retain the superposed weft carrlers therein, and means to release the lowest one of one set of weft carriers, and allow it to be moved. into a position to be transferred.

26. In a weft replenishing loom, a stationary magazine havmg a plurality of compartments, each compartment for a series of weft carriers, a chute from each compartment to guide a weft carrier into a common position.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto Bi ned my name in the presence of two subscri ing witnesses.

MELVIN L. STONE. Witnesses:

FRANK E. DODGE, Jr., GEORGE OTIS DRAPER. 

